Scripture

 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

~Genesis 2:18, NLT

Quote

We use the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. Solitude is the word we use to express the glory of being alone.

~Paul Tillich

I love solitude, but there is a catch. I choose to be alone. There is a huge difference in choosing to spend time alone and being left alone. I need solitude. I need peace and quiet. Constant noise is an irritation to me. I rarely listen to the radio when I am driving. I prefer the quiet to radio or TV. I do watch some TV at night before I retire. I like a good drama or western but I can take only so much. In my younger days I worried about becoming a TV buff or addict but I don’t think that will happen. I cannot stand commercials. I spend anywhere from 4-6 hours daily in solitude. I read, study pray and listen to podcast, YouTube, etc. I never dreamed I would love time alone the way I do, but this is my choice. My little building is about 100 feet from the house. When I go home, June is in the kitchen, or the laundry room or den. I love solitude in my little building but I love companionship at home and I am very blessed to have both.

Loneliness is being left alone. I can see at the youthful age of 75 how it can happen. I have a friend who is just ten years older and now he spends most of his time alone and it is not by choice. He isn’t doing well at the moment but when I first started visiting him, he would grab my hand, squeeze it firmly and thank me again and again for coming to see him. He rarely watches TV. Very few people in retirement homes watch a lot of TV. He faithfully supported his church and went on countless mission trips, but no one from the church visits him. He is lonely. Children grow up and they get independent. I did the same thing. I lived away from home so long that I did not depend on my parents for anything. At first I went to see them but over the years that changed and they started coming to see me because I was not going to see them as I should. I am ashamed to say that after Daddy was promoted, my mother called me twice a week but I never called her, or rarely called. Then toward the end, I felt more like a parent than a child.  I realize now that my mother spent too much time alone which made her lonely. We reap what we sow.

What I am trying to say is: I am not lonely right now, but I can see how it can happen. Chances are there is someone near you that is suffering from loneliness. Why don’t you pay them a visit. All they want is some of your time.

Extra

Christy is still at HH. They did a procedure yesterday to draw off some of the fluid. She was very tired and in some pain when I was there around 4:00 pm. Huntsville has been awful this week {traffic}. It took us over 30 minutes to go from the Lexus dealership to Madison Hospital. I have never seen that many cars on 72. It took me over an hour to get home Tuesday night. It was go-slow from Mooresville to Priceville where I got off ASAP. We have too many cars for too little road.

I am going to have a prayer vigil for our cancer warriors. We are planning to do it on Saturday July 12 from 6:00 pm until 10:00pm. Again, we will conduct the session on 30 minute intervals. I will put a sign up sheet out Sunday. We are praying specifically for those battling cancer. We are not concerned about numbers: we are simply asking for an Aaron and Hur to hold our hands for 30 minutes. In the meantime; pray for the Clark girls, Christy and Charity, and Lincoln.

Have a great 4th of July. I may or may not do a blog tomorrow.